Yale, Harvard Favored as Football Season Begins

For the second time in as many years, Yale was picked to win the Ivy League in the Ivy League football media poll. But this year the Bulldogs have company. For the second time since 2000, there was tie atop the poll, as defending champion Harvard matched Yale in votes this year.

Last season, Harvard and Yale entered “The Game” with identical 6-0 records in the Ancient Eight. With the league title hanging in the balance, Harvard stormed the Yale Bowl and shellacked the Bulldogs 37-6, ruining the Elis’ chance at being the first Ivy League team to repeat as champions since it ran the table in 2002 and 2003.

Out of the 17 first-place votes, Yale and Harvard each received eight, and the remaining first-place vote went to Penn. Despite getting the nod from one media outlet as the top team, the Quakers landed in fourth place in the poll, behind Brown. Last season, Brown bounced back from a disappointing 2006 season, in which it finished with a 2-5 league record, to go 4-3 in the Ancient Eight, good for a third-place finish.

After sharing the league title with Yale in 2006, Princeton finished below .500 last season and was selected to finish in fifth in the 2008 preseason poll. Close behind the Tigers is the Cornell Big Red, which finished with a record of 5-5, 2-5 Ivy in 2007, and is predicted to finish sixth.

Rounding out the league are Dartmouth and Columbia in the seventh and eight spots, respectively. Last season the Big Green compiled a 3-4 record in the Ivy League while the Lions were 0-7 in league play.

The reigning champion Crimson will kickoff the season on Friday, Sept. 19 and the rest of the Ivy League will follow suit on Saturday, Sept. 20. All eight teams will be playing nonconference opponents during the first week of the season.